Heritage Foundation is hiring Freedom Caucus aides to strengthen conservative impact

The Heritage Foundation has recruited several GOP staffers from Capitol Hill as part of its efforts to cement influence in Washington, D.C., and push for a more conservative agenda in the federal government.

The think tank announced its most recent hire on Wednesday, recruiting Mary Vought to be its new vice president of communications. Vought has had a nearly two-decade career on Capitol Hill working for an array of House members as well as Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI), which the group touted as crucial to advancing Heritage’s mission.

“The Heritage Foundation is America’s outpost in Washington,” Heritage President Kevin Roberts said in a statement. “With Mary’s extensive experience and strategic approach, we’re going to ensure that the people’s voice is heard louder than ever in 2024. Her leadership will be instrumental in advancing Heritage’s mission and taking back our country.”

Vought’s hiring comes after the think tank has recruited a handful of other former Hill staffers, including Harrison Fields, who worked for Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL), and Matthew Tragesser, who ran communications for Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ).

The pair were brought on for their experience dealing with congressional communications, but the Heritage Foundation was especially drawn to their time working for members of the House Freedom Caucus — a group of hard-line Republicans who often break with their party when they feel leadership is not adopting conservative enough positions.

“Anybody who’s worked in the House knows it’s a pretty scrappy environment,” Noah Weinrich, director of media and communications for Heritage, told the Washington Examiner. “You have to become kind of battle-tested pretty quick, especially being in the Freedom Caucus.

“We were founded to impact Congress to be first-out-of-the-gate with our message, with rigorous policy analysis that was also very timely [and] that concern lawmakers and sway them and help get conservative policy passed,” he added. “We’re doubling down on that now. It helps to bring people over with a knowledge of that process.”

The Heritage Foundation has “embraced” the former staffers’ experience on the Hill, Tragesser said, arguing that the think tank has become the “premier institution advancing the conservative cause.”

“I look forward to helping communicate their conservative policy priorities, as I’ve seen first-hand how left-wing policies are destroying the fabric of American society,” he told the Washington Examiner. “We must change our trajectory, and the experts at Heritage are leading the fight to do exactly that.

“The Heritage Foundation’s mission is movement-focused and guided by the ideals of our Founding Fathers to allow freedom, opportunity, prosperity, and civil society to flourish — fundamental principles under attack by the progressive movement,” added Fields, who pointed to his experience working in the House and in the Trump administration. “My affiliation with this trusted institution speaks to the continuous efforts of our leadership to establish an organization of tried-and-true conservatives committed to the long-standing values people have come to associate with The Heritage Foundation.”

The latest hires underscore the direction of the Heritage Foundation under the new leadership of Roberts, who took over as president in 2021. Since assuming the position, he has pushed the group away from its roots and has sought to usher in a new era of conservatism.

Part of that push has been the think tank’s Project 2025, a presidential transition framework that prepares for a possible return of former President Donald Trump. The project, offering policy recommendations for the next administration, would be tailored for a Republican president, although Weinrich noted they would “be thrilled” if a Democrat adopted any of the policies.

“Whoever may win in November, whether they’re left, right, or center, we would love them to take up any and all of these policies,” he said. “But they are tailored for executive action. And so, it’s not really the same as what would be pushing Congress.”

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Project 2025 is part of Roberts’s goal of using the Heritage Foundation as a way to institutionalize “Trumpism” in the federal government by seeking to leverage the power of the executive branch and dismantle some federal agencies. The framework would also seek to vet government employees before they are hired.

The Heritage Foundation’s push for more conservative influence in Washington comes as several hard-line Republicans on Capitol Hill have similarly pushed to cement their hold on Congress, particularly in the House. Several members of the House Freedom Caucus have waded into primaries endorsing challengers to their fellow incumbents as they look to elect more hard-liners to the lower chamber.